San Francisco Health Plan Provides Grant to BAART Community HealthCare

Turk Street program receives funding to improve screening and treatment of Hepatitis C in hard-to- reach patients.

San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP) has awarded an HCV grant to BAART Community HealthCare providing testing and treatment for Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is the most common, chronic blood-borne disease in the United States. San Francisco has the highest rates of liver cancer in the nation, most of which is attributed to the high rates of Hepatitis B and C virus infections. New treatment options are ever evolving and are extremely effective, but also come at an incredibly high cost to the health care system. This grant will help to support BAART’s focus on high-risk, hard-to- reach populations such as those who use IV drugs and those in MAT programs.

BAART Community HealthCare provides primary medical care services for underserved populations in the community, as well as, for BAART Programs medication-assisted treatment patients. Individuals currently enrolled at the BAART Turk Street and BAART Market Street Programs, who receive medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, will gain access to much needed, low barrier access to life saving HCV treatment through this program.

“The health of our patients and people in our community are our highest priority,” states Michelle Kletter, Vice President of Primary Care and Behavioral Health for BAART Programs. “We are honored to be awarded this grant to further our mission of providing care to those in need and to help reduce the rate of preventable diseases.”

It is projected that the HCV grant will provide treatment to hundreds of high-risk patients by September 2018, and will achieve a cure for 85% of participating patients but the year 2020.

For more information about BAART Community HealthCare, visit: https://baarthealthcare.com.

For more information about BAART’s programs and treatment services, visit: https://baartprograms.com/.

About BayMark Health Services:

BayMark Health Services, headquartered in Lewisville, Texas, provides medication-assisted treatment for opiate addiction and dependency to thousands of patients nationwide. Our outpatient programs deliver medically supervised treatment, in varied settings and through a variety of modalities, to meet the diverse needs of our patients who struggle with the use of prescription pain medication or other opiates. The BayMark continuum of patient-focused services includes highly structured opioid treatment programs utilizing methadone or buprenorphine and less structured office-based buprenorphine programs, both of which involve counseling as part of an individualized treatment plan. Additional treatment programs consist of ambulatory detoxification services with naltrexone therapy and personalized after care support. Select locations provide access to mental health and integrated primary care services.